BRITAIN: Lord Wrath

When Lord Reith, the autocratic founder of
the British Broadcasting Corporation, died four years ago at the age of
81, he was covered with honors. During his 16-year reign (1922-38) at
the BBC, he had built it into one of Britain's most revered
institutions; in return, the towering (6 ft. 6 in.), beetle-browed son
of a Presbyterian minister had been rewarded with knighthood, a barony,
the Order of the Thistle and a public reputation as one of the great
moral pillars of the realm.

Those who knew the private John Reith were less sure whether he was a
pillar or...